Obama broadband moves stoke tension with GOP

President Barack Obama is delving more deeply into broadband issues as he tries to put his stamp on the nation’s Internet policy — setting up more conflict with congressional Republicans and telecom giants that dominate the industry.

When Obama laid out his plans to boost community broadband networks in Cedar Falls, Iowa on Wednesday, it marked the second time in two months he’s put his administration at the forefront of the debate over the future of the Web. The president late last year called on the FCC to treat broadband like a public utility as part of new net neutrality rules.

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Obama’s speech Wednesday — backing efforts to spur city-run broadband networks as an alternative to private-sector providers like Comcast and Verizon — incensed Republicans who see it as just another attempt to over-regulate the industry with a Washington power-grab.

“Each day we see more policies coming out of this White House that attempt to wield greater power and control for the federal government,” Sen. Deb Fischer (R-Neb.) said in a statement, describing the president’s stances as a “new federal takeover of state laws governing broadband and the Internet.”

The president — speaking at Cedar Falls Utilities, which runs a municipal network with some of the fastest Internet in the country — called for the FCC to knock down state laws that restrict community-run broadband.

He also unveiled plans to unleash about $50 million more in government funds for rural cities that want to expand broadband access for their citizens, as well as a new Commerce Department effort to share best practices with towns that want to boost broadband.

Obama isn’t just pitching faster Internet as a win for techies; he’s touting it as essential for the middle class. His remarks previewed proposals he’ll make during next week’s State of the Union address.

“Today high-speed broadband is not a luxury; it’s a necessity,” he said. “This isn’t just about making it easier to stream Netflix or scroll though your Facebook news feed, although that’s fun. … This is about helping local businesses grow and prosper and compete in a global economy.”

FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler has said he supports overriding state laws that stand in the way of municipal broadband. Agency officials said the commission will vote in February on two petitions — from Chattanooga, Tenn., and Wilson, N.C. — asking the FCC to intervene on their behalf.

The White House is facing opposition not just from Republicans. Incumbent telecoms like AT&T and Time Warner Cable have worked state legislatures to install barriers to city-run Internet services. The industry says local government-run broadband networks often fail, leaving local taxpayers on the hook. But it also threatens their business models — Internet-service providers usually face little competition in individual markets.

The president’s net neutrality and municipal broadband proposals, “taken together, call for the federal government to regulate the Internet, and for municipal governments to own the Internet,” said Walter McCormick, president of the industry trade group USTelecom. “If acted upon by the Federal Communications Commission, they would be sweeping exercises of authority — raising constitutional concerns related to separation of powers, the scope of an independent agency’s congressionally delegated authority, and the role of the states in our federal system.”

Republicans have previously registered their dismay with the idea of FCC acting on community broadband networks. During an appropriations battle last year, all but four of the House’s Republican members voted to block the agency from pre-empting state laws.

“We don’t need unelected bureaucrats like FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler dictating to our states what they can and can’t do with respect to protecting their limited taxpayer dollars and private enterprises,” Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) said in a statement.

She was the leader of the Republican effort to block the FCC from wading into state laws — an effort she said Wednesday she plans to continue.